The Want to Win
by PixiePaws1
Summary: This is the 4th entry in the 'What She Wants: From Here to There' series. Young Killian Jones is newly dating Emma Nolan when he gets drafted onto her parents' trivia team. The team has never won and they're looking at Killian to help change that. No Pressure! Republished to fix some spelling.


A/N: I was reading this the other day and was smacked in the face by all the spelling and grammatical errors and i just had to fix them (well, the ones I spotted!)

 **The Want to Win**  
Any teenage boy or girl who had ever cast a romantic or, just plain lustful, eye in Emma Nolan's direction (and there were many), found themselves presented with two major obstacles.

First, the lady herself had steadfastly ignored all interest of the amorous (or less noble) kind. Neal Gold, Walsh Ozman, half the men's swim team, and a few other young ladies and young men had at one time or another, attempted pursuit of the elusive Emma. Those not put off by the thoroughly indifferent reception to their proffered amours, did give up the chase entirely when confronted with just the idea of obstacle number two: Sheriff David Nolan.

He was gentle as a lamb when surrounded by his family, and a picture of gentlemanly grace and kindness with his friends. It was, however, widely suspected by the young and old of Storybrooke that he'd be an absolute terror to anyone looking to get his or her hands on his adored daughter. Perhaps he went a little overboard with the protective father behaviour, but in his role as Sheriff, David was a firsthand witness to the absolute social dregs that Storybrooke had to offer. That said, dregs, often came in the guise of the children of some of the most upstanding and powerful Storybrooke families, only strengthened David's belief that it was safer to be over protective rather then the 'cool and laidback' dad.

Neal Gold and his fine pedigree with claims of kinship with some 17th century Scottish noble, didn't fool David Nolan for a second. Not after the many, many wild parties he'd had to shut down at the Gold residence. Walsh Ozman's father can donate as much of his money as he likes to the animal shelter, but David was acutely aware of how many of Walsh's pets had died a painful and unnatural death.

If David's beloved wife, Mary Margaret, had any inkling of the true nature of some of Storybrooke's youths, she might just break out her longbow and sharpen up her archery skills. Of course, he kept it all to himself, not wanting to sully his friendly, loving wife's sunny view or dim her optimistic nature. If that meant he had to submit to the odd chiding for his too zealous fathering, then so be it. He had broad shoulders; he could take it.

When it became known that Emma's heart had turned in Killian Jones' direction, that young man's elf-like ears should have gone up in flames with the things being said about him. The halls of Storybrooke High were buzzing with gossip. It was mostly fueled by bitter jealousy that the 'piss weak Irish stew' had somehow managed to hook himself the most 'coveted piece of ass' in school. Emma couldn't have cared less. She was smitten with those cute pointy ears, along with his blue eyes and his dimples. When he read his physics notes out loud, she all but swooned over his honeyed tones and accent. She especially loved his voice when he made rough, sexy, purring, grunting noises as her fingers burrowed into his luxuriant dark hair. Sometimes, as she scratched lightly at his scalp, Emma thought one of his legs might twitch like a puppy getting his flank tickled. She really wanted to see that.

Enraptured as she was with her sweet, adorable Killian, it never once occurred to Emma that her doting dad might have an issue with her heart's choice. It had been quite the shock to her system when David was decidedly cold in greeting Killian for the first time. She just didn't understand it, as it was a very simple and obvious equation in Emma's mind.

Dad loved Emma + Emma wanted Killian x Dad always gave Emma what she wanted if it is was within his ability to do so = Dad welcomes Killian.

Clearly, her dear, old Dad, was stuck somewhere in long division. For David Nolan had been a stone faced, tall and broad shouldered wall of ice, as he towered over his daughter's lanky limbed suitor. Poor Killian had been terrified, but as soon as Emma took his hand he stopped shaking and stood straighter. His good manners and respectful behaviour; clearly his natural disposition and not put on, completely won over Mary Margaret before she had even dished out the mashed potatoes.

Despite the rumours that ran through the high school in the days following Killian's first encounter with Emma's daunting father, he emerged from the Nolan home, totally unscathed.

As it turned out, Killian Jones was never going to have anything to fear from David Nolan.

Because Jones, the younger, was a treasure trove of trivia.

And as much as David disliked Neal Gold and Walsh Ozman, their fathers were his true nemeses. More specifically, their fathers' trivia teams.

Every second Wednesday, Granny hosted Storybrooke's most hotly contested trivia competition. Leroy was the Quiz Master, (Wednesday being the one night of the week he was always sober). He ran Trivia Night like a tyrant. No mobile phones, tablets or laptops allowed. No bathroom stops mid round were allowed, so no taking the long way to the bathrooms and peering over shoulders at other teams' answers. The slightest hint of cheating resulted in a month long ban.

Leory might be a grump, but he was a scrupulously fair grump.

Two years ago, The Nolans had founded a team called, 'The Charming Bandits'. After they had been competing in the quiz night for seven weeks, they merged with Robin and Regina Locksley's team, 'The Shiny Apples', and named the merged team, 'The Charming Apple Bandits'.

To the team's eternal frustration, 'The Charming Apple Bandits' had never won. Either Russell 'Rumple' Gold's team, the 'Go for Golds', or Walter Ozman's team, the 'Quiz Wizzes of Oz', always took first and second place between them.

The Bandits had tried their absolute hardest to wipe the smarmy smirk off Russell's face and, to shove a loss down Walter Ozman's condescending gob, but no matter what, third place was always the best The Bandits could manage.

David was running up the dentist bills with all his nocturnal teeth grinding. A particularly sore point considering the Golds' science guru, Arthur Cam Senior, was his dentist.

It galled all of The Bandits deeply that they couldn't best the other teams, at least once. It wasn't that any of The Bandits were sore losers. It was that the 'Golds' and the 'Wizzes' were extremely rude winners.

Actually, Walter was just rude by nature, and his son, Walsh, was even worse.

The unsportsmanlike behaviour of the two dominating teams was just one of the triggers that spurred on some of the, slightly less than noble, plots of some of The Bandits.

Regina had schemed to get rid of Stefan King, the world history trivia expert of 'the Wizzes', by pushing through a boundary change that would put King's residence and business out of town would have left King ineligible to compete. Unfortunately, that plan hit a snag when Walter finagled seats on the Planning Committee for himself and Cecil De Vil (bribery allegations as yet, unproved). Regina couldn't get the majority votes required. Apparently the glare she gave Walter could have set him on fire. She was still swearing to rain down retribution and vengeance two weeks after the committee adjourned.

Russell and Neal Gold, made a sport of slinging off at British born, Robin. The Golds may be American citizens, but they took their Scottish ancestory and, the Scotland versus England World Cup rivalry, seriously. Robin had been taking their verbal barbs on the chin, but one day his five year old son, Roland, came home in tears because Neal had called him a 'little shit from the ass end of the Britain'. When Robin had confronted Russell and demanded he make Neal apologise, the odious man had told him that his family did not apologise to 'grubby English peasants' and then shut the door in Robin's face.

Robin and Regina were out for blood; however, they were both smart enough to realise that physical retribution would only land them in jail and was not the way to truly hurt men like the Golds. The pain had to be more cerebral if they were going to serve those two with their just desserts. Beating them at the trivia challenge in which they believed themselves, oh, so superior, would get them right in their over inflated egos.

But the win was proving to be decidedly elusive and Robin itched to get even. (Although the Locksleys received a nice warm glow watching Sheriff Nolan and Deputy Humbert find every opportunity to fine Russell for traffic violations, and Neal for being a public nuisance with all the noise made by him and his partying friends.)

So desperate was Robin to get back at Gold, he actually considered breaking into Leroy's house to steal the answers to the following week's trivia rounds and plant them in Russell's office. Mary Margaret had been appalled at the Golds' treatment of Roland and not averse to a bit of banditry, herself. She and Robin had the caper all planned; however, Leroy's six brothers decided to visit him and the house seemed to be continually occupied, leaving no window of opportunity in which to carry out their plan.

Morale in 'The Charming Apple Bandits' had practically flat lined.

Then Emma brought Killian home and David was seeing the victory cup within his grasp, except where the actual trophy has handles, David saw a pair of pointy ears. Killian was completely onboard for a win once David told him that Walsh, Neal, Arthur and the other jocks that made his school life a misery, were on their parents' teams. Much to Emma's consternation, her brand new, very first boyfriend was quickly co-opted out of her arms and onto the family team.

No teenaged girl wants to share her boyfriend with her parents. Emma was thoroughly put out that her plans to have serious get-to-know-him alone time with Killian, were put on hold. Summoned for team practices every night until he made his debut in the competitive arena of Granny's, Emma did get to see him, but he proved distressingly single minded on the study.

Still, Emma did appreciate the drop in stress levels in her parents; and she just loved the cute wrinkles in Killian's forehead as he concentrated. When he unconsciously poked the tip of his tongue out the side of his mouth as he read up on his sport statistics, she nearly combusted in her chair. She was very disappointed in herself for taking four nights to realise she could corner him between the fridge and the counter during break time, while the adults were distracted with snickerdoodles in the dining room.

Part of the reason for the continued losses of The Bandits, was a tendency for their writing to get increasingly illegible as their excitement grew. Their trivia knowledge was above average, but things always fell apart very early in the competition as the adrenaline kicked in. When one of them knew the answer, they couldn't say it out loud for fear of being overheard, so they would write it down and pass it to the designated team scribe (usually Regina). Without fail, by the time they were halfway through round four, the entire team was so on edge, that they would race to get their answers written down. Each wanting to be the first to answer.

Unfortunately, by this stage, practically nothing they wrote was scribe lost all patience attempting to interpret the chicken scratchings trying to be passed off as words that were, literally, being shoved in their face. At this point, the hastily written answers were abandoned and replaced with truly appalling charades; none of which the scribe understood. When Quiz Master, Leroy, began the next question, the scribe would panic and write down their own answer. On average, three out of five times it was wrong. By the time the evening was over their table was a graveyard of mangled bits of paper, broken pencils and frustrated dreams.

For The Bandits, Killian was the find of the decade. Not only was he possessed of a prodigious store of trivia knowledge, he also had freakishly neat handwriting, even under stress. All that practice at ignoring bullies while he concentrated on his school work made him the perfect trivia team scribe. During their timed practice rounds, Killian didn't even break a sweat.

Although, Emma's grabby hands under the table made him jump a few times.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWT

On the night of his debut as a fully fledged member of The Charming Apple Bandits, Killian didn't know whether to be excited or nervous. He was acutely aware of how much the team was counting on him, but he was confident in his trivia knowledge. He hoped he'd come up with a solid strategy to deal with the stressors that usually resulted in the team's loss. His indecision over his state of mind manifested in a rapid tapping of his foot on the kitchen table leg, making the table wobble slightly, and several blueberries rolled off onto the floor.

"Killian! Stop that or I won't have enough blueberries to top off this cake." His mother, Caroline, glowered at her youngest. Traditionally, each team member brought a plate of food with them, and his mother had made her chocolate Guinness cake which Killian was to take as his offering for the table.

"Sorry, Mam," Killian offered. He lifted himself up off his chair just high enough to fold his leg and then sit on the offending foot. Unfortunately he accidentally gave the table leg a whack and several more berries made a bid for freedom. The fruit bounced and rolled on the tiled floor until Liam reached down and scooped them up, before neatly popping them in this mouth.

Caroline huffed and rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Liam? You could have washed them first. Am I raising gentlemen or pigs? If you come down with rabies don't expect any sympathy from me."

"Rabies, Mam? You know how contracting that works, right? I'm not getting rabies or anything else off this floor. Not with the way you make me and Killian clean it every two minutes."

"And why shouldn't you two clean it, might I ask? You two are the ones always traipsing mud on my floors. Besides, it's my job to train you up for your future wives. No woman will want either of you useless articles if you can't do your share of the house work," Caroline said. She scooped another tablespoon of maple cream onto the cake and pushed in several more strawberries and cherries. "No daughter-in-law of mine will be working herself to the bone because my boys are lazy."

"Wives? Who'd marry Liam?" Killian scoffed. "He'll move back in here when he finishes college and then you'll never be rid of him." He tried to pinch a strawberry from the nearly empty carton but Caroline smacked the back of his hand.

"Both my boys are handsome as they come, but more importantly, you were both raised to have manners. Unsanitary eating habits, aside." She arched an eyebrow in disapproval to ensure Liam understood there better not be any further eating of things off the floor. "I expect some lovely young things will be stealing you away from me sooner than I'd like. Certainly that sweet Nolan girl has made an impression on my baby boy. Does she have sister for you, my lamb?" Caroline reached up and patted Liam's slightly scruffy jaw, then sighed heavily. "It will be so quiet with both my lads gone. But as long as I get grandchildren -."

Liam threw hands up in the air and backed away. "Steady on, Mam. In the space of a minute you got me and Killian married off and giving you grandbabies."

"Yeah, Mam. Can you finish the cake before you start to marrying us off? I'm supposed to get to Granny's before six," Killian said.

"Your cake is done," Caroline said, and added a last blueberry with a flourish. "Get me the round cake container with the handle, will you, Killian? Top shelf in the pantry. There's a good lad." She started to gather up the empty fruit cartons. "Why so early? Quiz doesn't start till seven."

"Leroy won't allow plates or bowls on the table during the quiz rounds in case someone has notes in the bottom," Killian said, rolling his eyes at the Quiz Master's paranoia. "Besides, I want to have a wee bit of time to just sit and talk to Emma and get myself in the right headspace." Having retrieved the requested container he took off the lid and handed it to his mother. She carefully settled her work of culinary art inside. It looked sumptuous, all covered in shiny chocolate glaze with the fruit nestled in the maple cream. "This game is really important to Mr and Mrs Nolan. Mr Nolan says I'm the best chance they've ever had to win. Once the new baby is born, Mr Nolan says they won't be able to compete at all for the first few months, so they won't be eligible to win the Champion Cup next year."

Liam just wouldn't be Killian's older brother if he didn't tease him a little. "Don't muck it up or Emma's parents will cut short this grand romance of yours. Then where will Mam's grandbabies be?" Earning himself a thump up the backside of his head in admonishment from his frowning mother.

"Liam Declan Jones! You'll not be putting the wind up your brother over this." Caroline scolded her oldest, then turned to Killian. "Don't you listen to him, my angel. Your lovely, Emma, is going to be so proud of you."

"It's alright, Mam. Mr and Mrs Nolan are really nice. Mr Nolan's pretty protective of Emma, but she makes up her own mind," Killian said, confidently, and threw a smirk at his brother. Although the tips of his ears and his cheeks were flushed pink in embarrassment thinking about Emma and possible, future grandbabies, so the smirk didn't really come off quite as Killian planned. He picked up the cake container and pressed a thank you kiss to Caroline's cheek. "Thanks for this. Floors, I can clean, but you know I'm rubbish at baking."

A smart comeback about floor mopping and the other teams was on the tip of Liam's tongue, but he thought better of it, because if Caroline made cake, then he knew she had to have made two. He was not going to risk missing out. "Well, I'm glad Emma made up her mind to go after you, then, little brother," he said.

Which only earned him a second thump from Caroline.

"That's younger brother, Liam. Our Killian was never little. I should know! Thirty seven hours of labour to deliver him because his head-. . . "

That was as far as she got before Liam shoved his fingers in his ears and shouted at Killian, "How about I drive you?" They both ran out the back door to the garage, like the big brave men they were.

"Never fails," Caroline said to herself. She cut herself a big slice from the second cake she had hidden in the bread bin, made herself a cup of tea and settled on the couch to enjoy her pre-dinner snack.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWT

It seemed that all the other teams had the same idea, as when Liam dropped his brother off, Killian could see the Golds already going through Granny's front door and the Nolans were waiting for him out front. David was holding a heavy looking bag filled with tins that, no doubt, held snacks and other goodies. Emma saw Killian and ran up to him as he walked towards her. She plucked the cake container from her boyfriend and handed it to her mother, then she threw her arms around Killian and hugged him tightly.

"All ready?" Emma asked, her lips moving near his ear sending pleasant tingles down Killian's spine.

"Don't discombobulate him before the competition, Emma. He won't be any use if he gets all flustered," Mary Margaret, joked. "Hi, Killian. Is this Caroline's famous Guinness cake?" She opened the container to take a peek and David practically shoved his whole head into it.

"Hello, Mr and Mrs Nolan. Yeah, it is. Mam says, good things always happen when she makes that particular cake. Let's hope that includes winning," Killian said, but his accompanying smile was nervous, because over David's shoulder he could see Walsh approaching.

"Hi Killian. Ooooh, brain food," David said, lifting his head to look at Mary Margaret, who rolled her eyes."If it tastes as good as it looks, Caroline's going to give you some competition at the next Founders' Day fair."

"Bring it on. Healthy and fair competition is always welcome," Mary Margaret said; head held high.

"Speaking of competition, let's get to it. After you, my love," David held the door to Granny's open to let Mary Margaret go through first, before he turned to the new recruit. "We're glad you're with us, Killian," David said, and clapped the young man on the shoulder. "Win or lose." He smiled in encouragement, then followed his wife through the door.

"Emphasis on lose, Loser," Walsh sneered. He had hung back a little until Emma's parents had moved inside, then walked over and viciously shoved Killian into the door frame. "Think of that as a literal demonstration of what's going to happen to your team, tonight." Walsh then stepped right up to Emma, crowding her. "Emma, Emma, Emma, there's a place for you at the winning table." Ignoring the way Emma's eyes narrowed in rage, he leaned in further and said, "You can sit on my lap. That's where the real prize of the night is." He smiled a big toothy grin right before he doubled over in pain from Emma's well placed knee.

"I'm not interested in your sad, little booby prize, Walsh," Emma told him, airily.

Walsh groaned and wheezed; but in that moment he couldn't get a retort past his lips for love or money.

Satisfied she had rammed home her point, she turned her back to Walsh and found Killian leaning against the door, glasses adorably askew and looking at his girlfriend with an expression of utter adoration. Unable to resist, Emma set his glasses to rights and gave Killian a quick kiss on the lips.

"Ok, Babe, let's go win us a quiz," Emma said, then took his hand and they went inside

"You're a marvel, Emma. Truly amazing," Killian whispered in her ear as they made their way to their team's table.

"Why, yes I am," Emma agreed with a smug smile. "Aren't you glad I picked you." It was a statement, not a question.

"Every minute of every day, Love. Don't you ever doubt it," Killian assured her with a kiss to her temple.

The rest of the team had already arrived and, while Mary Margaret, Emma and Regina organised the copious amount of food; placing Caroline's masterpiece in the centre of the table, David, Robin and Graham went to order a round of drinks and pitchers of lemonade and water.

"Wow, no one's going hungry, tonight," Killian commented, as he eyed the magnificent spread.

"It looks a lot now, but I know you men will make a hole in this lot in no time at all," Mary Margaret said. "David, has hollow legs!"

"A word of warning, Killian. It looks like it is on the table for everyone to share, but just leave the cheese and bacon dip for Graham. He'll chew your hand off if you so much as wave a cracker over it," Regina said; her tone deadly serious.

Killian's eyes widened in disbelief.

"She means it, too. Daddy has scars on his arm from when he tried to dip a carrot stick. It was crazy, scary seeing Mr Humbert go all feral," Emma said. "He's always so quiet and mild mannered."

"Right, then. Give the dip a wide berth. Got it," Killian said, nervously scratching the tip of his left ear.

None of the other food was off limits and all of it was scrumptious, with Caroline's cake seeming to have vanished right off the plate. Emma suspected her team mates may have been trying to silence their nerves with food, but she kindly refrained from voicing her suspicions.

Granny's filled quickly with the other teams, including, 'Disney Princesses', the team that consistently finished last. They were so named as the team was comprised of women who shared first names with animated princesses. Ella, Ariel, Aurora, Jasmine, Tiana, Belle and Graham's partner, Merida. The first four were all stay at home mothers. They had a deal with their husbands. The ladies went to quiz night and the men were in the darts league that competed on the Wednesday nights, alternate to the quiz night.

Merida,Tiana and Belle were close friends who all worked in the library. Mary Margaret has asked them to join The Bandits, but they felt the 'Princesses' were a better fit, since they were far more interested in having a good time than actually posing any true challenge. As Belle told Mary Margaret, 'I don't come to quiz night to use my brain and answer questions.'

The other teams had dubbed the 'Princesses', the 'Jekylls and Hydes', (not that Graham was silly enough to tell his girlfiremd that) because they started out all sweetness and fun and got progressively more drunk and, their language more outrageous, as the night wore on. It was observed by most that no matter how badly they did, they certainly seemed to enjoy themselves. At the end of the night their respective husbands and partners dutifully appeared to collect their raucous other halves and haul them away.

There was a rumour that at the end of the competition season, Leroy was going to publish the 'Princesses' answer sheets; ranking them to various criteria such as, 'Most Lewd' and 'Number of spelling errors made in a single round'. Far from being offended, the 'Princesses' took it as a challenge. Much to the annoyance of the 'Golds' and the 'Wizzes', as Granny always made sure the 'Princesses' were seated right next to those teams. Russell once complained and Granny said, not one word. She only narrowed her eyes at him and placed her crossbow on the counter.

Despite the sour notes cast by the 'Go for Golds' and the 'Quiz Wizzes', the trivia night was hugely popular, and often Granny had to disappoint a team or two through lack of space. But she always made sure there was room for the 'Princesses'.

As designated scribe, Killian had already arranged his supply of pens and pencils and written in the team name on the top of the provided answer sheets. Mary Margaret had brought with her a stack of blank paper that she now also gave to Killian. Coming to the team with a fresh perspective, he had come up with a strategy that he hoped would keep his fellow team members from falling apart with their usual panic as the evening wore on.

No one knew what order the rounds would be in. Sometimes, Storybrooke History, was first and the sports round was last. Sometimes there was no round at all for movie knowledge and sometimes a topic was used for two rounds. Leroy always liked to keep them as a surprise. There were always either ten or twelve rounds and small puzzles, such as 'Who am I' or 'Name that Trademark', in between the rounds that had prizes for the individual.

Killian's strategy required each team member getting a blank page for each round. When Leroy announced how many questions there would be for that round, each person was to write that number as bullet points down the page. If they knew the answer they were to write it down as calmly as possible. There wouldn't be any need for them to panic and rush their answer, as for each round, the person who knew least about that topic had the job to write down each question so none of them would be missed.

Promptly at 7pm Leroy called for the teams' attention and announced the first round would be, Current Affairs, and would have ten questions.

"Guess I'm writing questions," Emma said quietly, and gave her boyfriend a smile.

"And you'll do it perfectly," Killian assured her; earning himself a kiss on the tip of his nose from his pleased girlfriend.

"No room at the table for romance, you two. This is meant to be serious business," Robin said; trying to look stern. He turned to his wife. "Your round, Regina." He kissed her behind the ear, then gave Emma and Killian a cheeky wink.

Regina nodded and took a deep breath, very much aware all eyes at the table were now on her. Current Affairs, was one of her specialties.

Things went exactly to plan in round one. Regina wrote her answers neatly and Killian transcribed them to the official answer page in his usual impeccable penmanship. There were two questions that had Regina stumped, but Graham knew one and David knew the other. Leroy allowed one minute at the end of the round to review answers and, with Emma having faithfully recorded all of the questions, this was easily done.

After Killian handed their answers to Leroy's brother, Clark, a game of 'Who am I?' took place. It was hotly contended by Archie Hopper and Red De Vil, but after the sixth clue, Killian stuck his hand in the air and answered, 'Jean Harlow', for the win. Completely ignoring Robin's bogus 'no romance' rule Emma threw her arms around her boyfriend's neck. "You are so clever," she squealed in delight, in between each of the kisses she peppered over his smiling face.

"You doing okay there, Daddy?" Mary Margaret whispered in her husband's ear. David was wincing and trying not to watch his daughter showering her boyfriend with affection.

"I'm trying, Mary Margaret. I really am. I like Killian. He's a good kid," David whispered back.

"How the hell does someone that age even know of Jean Harlow?" Graham asked, seeing his mate looked distressed and hoping to distract him.

It had a taken David a little while to get over the shock of learning that his 'baby' girl had decided she was interested in boys and dating. From his point of view it had just been so sudden. As if a switch had been flipped giving dear old Dad no lead-in time to adjust, at all. He liked Killian. He thought he was a very nicely brought up young person who showed the right amount of respect towards Emma. But the sort of enthusiasm with which Emma was kissing Killian was really testing him. The display of affection was just a bit . . . much . . . so he was glad of the distraction offered by Graham's question.

"Not everyone spends their time glued to the nature channel, like some I could name," Regina said, rather pointedly. Graham stuck out his tongue in an act of true maturity. "It's safe to look, now, David. They're just making doey eyes." Regina tried to sound matter of fact, but she couldn't quite hide the gentle curve of a smile.

"Graham's viewing prefs aside, it is a bit unusual," Robin said.

"My Mam used to make me watch all her old black and white movies with her when I was little, and Da and Liam were out night fishing," Killian explained.

"Not even in colour?" Emma asked, looking thoroughly aghast at such a notion.

"No need to sound so dismissive, Emma. Those old black and whites were a true art form," Mary Margaret, said.

"That's just what, Mam, says. I didn't mind. She'd make pudding, just for us, and I'd get to stay up past my usual bed time." Killian said.

"Ah, and what youngster wouldn't put up with an old fashioned movie for such grand rewards?" Robin smiled, broadly.

"Here's your prize, young man. Very well done." Leroy's fiance, Nova, handed KIllian a huge box of chocolates. "Nice to see a new face."

"Thank you, Miss Nova," Killian said, taking hold of his prize. "I think I'll give this to my Mam, to thank her for making the cake. Maybe she'll make us another, next week." He attempted a wink at Emma, but it looked more like he was having an eye spasm.

Leroy called for the attention of the teams so he could go through the answers. 'The Bandits' had scored 10 out of 10. Their confidence soared. Killian couldn't stop himself from beaming that his careful plotting had actually helped achieve results. The success didn't stop there. Killian's strategy proved to be the answer. When Leroy announced the scores at the halfway mark, 'The Charming Apple Bandits' were sharing first place with the 'Quiz Wizzes of Oz', with the 'Go for Golds', three points behind in second place.

The Bandits' success also extended to the games between trivia rounds, of which they so far, had made a clean sweep. Killian had blitzed the 'Who am I?' rounds and in all, he had won dinner for two at Tony's Italian restaurant, movie vouchers and a second box of chocolates that he opened to share with the team. Graham had quipped, "That's at least one date night sorted for you, Mate." Mary Margaret won the 'TV Theme Music' game and her prize was an enormous fruit basket. As a team they won the 'Country Anagrams' and scored a side of lamb. Mary Margaret and David said they would host a barbecue at their home for the team and their families as soon as a date, agreeable to all, was determined.

The Bandits' table was piled high with prizes instead of the mess it was usually in at this stage of the evening. It was a nice change to see that all the pencils were being broken in anger on the Golds' table, instead. Russell was not a happy chap, and his foul temper had infected his team. Leroy had already threatened to evict them from the competiton for yelling during the fourth round. The pronounced snickering from The Bandits had only inflamed things, further.

The other teams all applauded at finally seeing a team issue a serious challenge to the usually dominant teams. It seemed many others were hoping to see anyone else win; they didn't care who. David and Mary Margaret absolutely beamed as they gave the other teams a regal wave in acknowledgement of the applause.

Walter was trying to appear nonchalant about the unexpected challenge from 'he Bandits; however, the nervous tapping of fingernails on the table betrayed him. He tried to give his team his version of a pep talk, but it would seem phrases such as, 'I will kill you in your sleep, if we lose', were slightly less than motivational. Red looked half a heartbeat away from going for Walter's throat.

During half time break, Regina and Mary Margaret put out more snacks to supplement the chocolates that Killian had won. They didn't last long; seeming to have been inhaled by the team. Many of the competitors offered to buy the adult 'Bandits' a drink to show their support, but these were politely refused.

"That looks good on you," Emma said quietly into Killian's ear. He turned to look at her, clearly puzzled. "I mean that winning smile, not this," Emma clarified as she picked up a napkin and wiped a crumble of feta off his chin, then replaced it with a kiss. "There you go, all clean and ready to complete the race to victory."

Killian blushed and he scratched his ear tip. "Let's hope. Don't want to get ahead of ourselves. Only halfway there," He reminded her.

"You're kidding, right? Look at Dad. He's practically giddy with joy to be doing so well. It's thanks to you and the system you came up with," Emma said, not wanting Killian to underplay his starring role in the team's achievement.

"I might have helped a bit, but it really is teamwork. I couldn't have answered a single one of those questions about Storybrooke. Your Mam has an incredible memory. She's the only one in the entire competition who knew the date that manure truck slipped its brake and rolled into Doc's Miata," Killian said.

"Middle of summer, too," Mary Margaret said, wrinkling her nose. "It was all kinds of nasty."

Graham smirked. "David tiptoeing around the poo to give Doc a ticket for double-parking may have been a tad over the top."

"Funny, though." Robin was laughing so hard, he spilled his drink.

"The law is a harsh mistress and I am but, her humble servant," David said. Then he sniggered. "Did you know his insurance had expired the day before?"

"You never told me that!" Mary Margaret exclaimed. "Oh, that's awful. I feel really bad for laughing, now." David put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a sideways hug.

"It's okay, they paid him out eventually," David said.

"So it all worked out for him alright, then?" Killian asked, all concern and innocence, which quickly turned to confusion as his team mates, except for Mary Margaret, exchanged looks then dissolved into unrestrained hysterics. Mary Margaret frowned, disapprovingly.

"Three years ago, in the fall, we had two weeks of continuous rain that caused a number of small sinkholes to open. There is a series of very old mine tunnels just outside the town limits." Mary Margaret explained.

"No!" Killian shook his head, guessing where this explanation was going. "No one could be that unlucky."

"Oh, yes, he can," David confirmed, as his laughter slowly subsided.

"If you all would kindly shut the hell up, we can continue." Leroy's tone cut through the noise in the room, and after another minute or two, the teams had settled back into competition mode.

No-one ever expected beating the Golds and the Wizzes would be a walk in the park, but after the sixth round, the infighting in those teams really worked against them. The Bandits took the lead by two points after round seven and never looked like giving it up. They won by eight points. The Wizzes came second and the thoroughly demoralised Golds, actually tied for third with Archie Hopper's team, 'The Thinkers'.

David cried. Mary Margaret was ecstatic and nearly deafened everyone as she squealed with happiness. Robin and Regina hugged each other and couldn't resist taunting Russell and Neal, referring to their brains as 'tiny, empty, sporrans'. Graham was laughing so hard, he barely managed to step between Neal and Robin before there was actual fisticuffs.

Emma was so proud of Killian for his part in taking The Bandits to their first victory. Seeing her parents and their friends so deliriously joyful, touched her soul. Although, truth be told, she could have done very well without the disturbing image of her father kissing her boyfriend's cheeks. She shuddered to think what further horrific scenes might be burned into her retinas if the team actually won the Grand Championship at the end of the year.

Afterall, there is such a thing as too much parental approval!

Once the initial rush of victory had ebbed a little, Killian excused himself to use the bathroom. As he was about to leave the men's room the door slammed open and in walked Neal and Walsh. They blocked Killian's exit and Neal pushed him back against the handbasin.

"So, Nolan, got exactly what he was after," Neal said, his voice low and full of derision.

"Nolan pretends like his daughter's so damn perfect. Snarling at anyone daring to look at her twice." Walsh's expression was truly malicious.

"Except you, Jones. Now why is that, do you think?" Neal asked.

"Yeah, Jones. What's so special about a skinny Mick freak that Nolan lets you anywhere near his precious daughter?"

Killian was well accustomed to this type of tag team bullying. He knew in his gut he should ignore them; shove them aside and go back to Emma and celebrate their win. But his tendency towards low self esteem kept him pinned to the basin at the mercy of his tormentors.

Neal snapped his fingers. "I know, Walsh. The only thing special about Jones, here, is how fucking gullible he is. Boy, did that Nolan bitch do a number on you."

"Don't talk about Emma like that." Killian was no coward. Knowing these two could beat him senseless did not inhibit his willingness to defend his Emma. He tried to push Neal out of his way, so he could stand up properly.

"Hey, man, we're just looking out for you. Trying to show you how you've been used," Walsh said.

"We can't blame you for falling for it. I mean, gorgeous woman throws herself at you, all so Daddy's team of idiots can stop embarrassing themselves. Sad specimen like you was blindsided," Neal put in.

"Didn't it cross your mind, even once? Didn't think to ask why beautiful Emma Nolan would look at you once, let alone kiss you?" Walsh continued.

"But you can get her back. Quit dear old daddy Nolan's team and come join the 'Golds'. That'll show the manipulative whore she can't lead you about by the balls," Neal said.

For a fraction of a second Killian's belief in Emma, wavered. Or rather, his belief that he was deserving of the affection Emma gave to him, wavered.

But only for that fraction.

Adrenaline coursed through him and Killian found the strength to force the two bullies back. He pulled himself to his full height. "No." His tone brooked no argument. "Emma is kind. Her parents are kind. Something neither one of you would recognise, even if you fell over it. There is no situation, no reason, no fucking way, that Emma or Mr Nolan would ever, ever, stoop to such a thing. So you can take your accusations and shove them up each other's arse."

Liam would have been so proud at the speed Killian produced in ducking Neal's fist and dashing out the door to the hallway. Finding nothing but air where he expected a target, Neal lost his balance and nearly fell into the basin, barely catching himself on the counter. Walsh made a weird sound that started out as a snarl and ended as a laugh, as he watched Neal flail.

"Oh man, I wish I'd got that on camera. Neal Gold, star quarterback, too slow for a nerd like, Jones," Walsh wheezed out as he laughed.

Deprived of his victim, Neal turned on Walsh. "You don't say one word about this, got it?" That sobered up Walsh, very abruptly.

"Don't threaten me, Gold. I know where all your skeletons are buried," Walsh bit back.

The two faced off, eyes blazing, then Neal's expression morphed into something truly nasty. "Hey man, why are we fighting each other. We both know who needs a good beat down."

It took a moment, but Walsh smiled. There was nothing good about that smile. "Why yes, we do. He can't write any answers with a broken hand," Neal said.

"Can't tell anyone the answers with his broken jaw wired shut," Walsh said.

"And neither one of you is likely to play college ball if you've served time for assault. Which is where you will be if I see Killian with so much as a ruffled disposition." Both young men jumped at the sound of David's voice. He had quietly entered while the young men had been arguing. "Yes, the Court would seal your records, given your ages, but these sorts of things have a way of just getting out of the file and in front of recruiters." He stroked his chin as he pretended to think about it. "Big difference between a childish misdemeanor and violent assault. Graham has a gift for descriptive prose. It's the Irish in him. He can make a hangnail sound like a near death experience. Imagine the report he'd write up if Killian were to suffer a broken bone that was inflicted with intent."

Walsh and Neal were seething, but they knew to shut up.

"Are you understanding me, or do I need to elaborate?" David asked.

"I think we understand, just fine," Neal gritted out, while Walsh nodded.

David frowned. "One more thing. Say what you want about me. I don't care. Emma is a different matter. She shouldn't care about anything you say, but she's a tender soul. Upset her and you'll, well, . . . not in your best interests. And I know you two are all about your own interests." He moved aside to clear the doorway. "Now, back to your tables. Your fathers are looking to assign blame for their losses tonight."

Walsh gulped. Neal flinched.

TWYWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Elated as he was, David was still a law man, and his sixth sense for trouble was never really quiescent. He knew neither Walter nor Russell would take their defeat well, and both were well known for their vicious tempers, so he was keeping a surreptitious eye on them and their teams. Russell was unrestrainedly verbally tearing into his team. The 'Wizzes' were unnervingly quiet, as if they were in shock at losing to 'The Bandits'. When Killian excused himself to use the bathroom, David noticed Russell gesture to Neal, who caught Walsh's eye and the two young men got up and followed him. Their expressions set and unpleasant.

"I think this victory needs a proper celebration. How about I buy a bottle of Granny's best?" David offered.

"Oh, I think you absolutely should," Mary Margaret said, smiling widely. "Emma? Would you and Killian like a hot chocolate?"

Emma pouted. "Can't we have a glass of what everyone else is having? Since it's a special occasion."

"How about I don't send my underaged daughter and her boyfriend to school tomorrow with hangovers," David countered, before kissing Emma's forehead and getting up from the table. The adults chuckled as Emma groaned. David walked up to the counter, keeping watch on Neal and Walsh as they followed Killian to the men's room. He accepted Granny's congratulations, placed his order and told her he'd collect it after he made a bathroom pitstop.

The acoustics in Granny's had always been a little hinky. Loud as it got out in the main dining area, the noise rarely penetrated the hallway and section by the bathrooms. Pausing by the men's room door David had heard every word of the threats and accusations made by Neal and Walsh. More importantly, he heard his daughter's boyfriend sternly refute the nasty allegations. When Killian made his escape, he came face to face with David. The latter held a hand up to indicate Killian should stay silent, then sent him back to the table.

Emma noticed immediately that Killian looked frazzled and was trying to hide it. When he sat back down she took his hand and realised he was shaking.

"What's wrong? You were only gone a minute. Did something happen?" Using her free hand she tenderly ran her palm down the side of his face.

"You okay, Killian? You're eyes are looking a little wild," Regina observed.

"It's just the adrenaline," Killian said, trying to avoid explaining he'd had a run in with bullies.

Emma was not fooled. She fixed a stern eye on her boyfriend. "Open book." She said, and Killian ducked his head and grimaced. "C'mon, fess up."

Killian sighed, heavily and lifted his head slightly to peer over the top of his glasses. "It's no big deal. I just got treated to some of that bad sportsmanship you warned me about."

"Who? Tell me who it was and I will go and -," Emma was all fired up to go defend her Killian, but he restrained her with his hands on her shoulders.

'Sweetheart, no, really I'm fine. I wasn't kidding when I said it was adrenaline. The best revenge is for us to enjoy our win with our team mates." He dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Because we did win and there's no way I'm letting anyone ruin this victory for us."

"Well said," Mary Margaret said.

TWTWTWTWTWTWT

Having dealt with the bullies, David collected the order waiting for him and smirked all the way back to his team. He handed Mary Margaret her orange juice, while Robin picked up the bottle of the sparkling wine and charged their glasses for the toast. Merida, who was marginally more sober than she usually was at the end of trivia night, had left her team to join Graham. She was sitting in his lap and tossing insults at the 'Wizzes' over his shoulder. Unfortunately her Scottish accent was always three times as thick after she'd been drinking, so the victims of her finely honed barbs were oblivious to how thoroughly they'd been insulted. It did rather dampen the effect.

"I feel like this should be Moet, but it will do the trick," David said, as he held up his glass for the toast.

"Well, make the toast so we can bloody well get on and drink it, then," Graham said, smiling widely.

"Okay, okay. First, well done! We finally, finally, did it." David had to pause as the whole team let go with a chorus of, yays and yahoos and banged their hands on the table. When they settled down, he picked up the toast, again. "We all knew we had the answers, well, a good few of them, anyway. But it took Killian's brilliant strategy and, the extra knowledge he brought, to get us over the line."

Killian squirmed in his chair, feeling uncomfortable at being singled out. Emma grabbed his hand and held tight, while she had her mug of hot chocolate in the other, raised ready to toast.

"This is just the start, guys. Good thing, too. When the new Baby Nolan arrives and, if his or her beautiful big sister was anything to go by, Mary Margaret and I will have to take a long break from competing."

" Nothing! I did nothing!" Emma protested, indignantly.

"You were a gorgeous baby. Absolutely perfect," Mary Margaret assured her.

"Perfectly loud! We were lucky to get more than an hour of sleep at a time, on any day for the first few months after you were born. We were perpetually exhausted. You were so loud and such a diva, we wondered if you were destined to sing opera," David said. "But your mother and I were and, always will be, so proud of you. We love you, Emma, and we love that you joined the team."

"And we're really, really glad you brought, Killian, with you," Robin added.

Killian's face was crimson at this point. He was not at all accustomed to such praise from outside his family.

"Don't look so modest, Killian. Credit where it's due. Even I can admit we were a mess before you joined us," Regina said.

"Thanks, Mrs Locksley," Killian said, and nodded shyly in acknowledgement.

"Me, too. I think, I'll keep him," Emma agreed. She leaned into him as close she could, then kissed his cheek.

"We all appreciate the effort you put in," Mary Margaret, added. "So, yes, Killian, we are all very, very grateful that you joined the team, too."

"Hey! Making grand toast, here," David said, loudly, to regain his team's attention.

"Yes, yes. You did great. You won. Arseholes lost and it was bleeding beautiful to watch," Merida cut in, exuberantly, and wanting to get on with the drinking and celebrate with her man. Graham whispered something in her ear and inclined his head towards the young people at the other end of the table. "I mean, bad sports and all around awful people, lost," she said, somewhat contritely; the bright smile she'd been wearing, considerably dimmed. Graham planted a kiss behind her ear and she brightened again.

"They did, indeed, Merida. Let's show that lot," David gestured to the 'Golds' and the 'Wizzes', "What grace in victory, looks like. So, here's to us, and here's to the other teams for providing such spirited competition."

"Here! Here!" The team responded, and they all took a drink in toast. David sat back down and pulled Mary Margaret in for a rather intense kiss.

"Ugh. In public! I wish they'd warn me before they do that." Emma hid her face behind Killian's shoulder. "Tell me when it's over," she asked, not realising he was averting his eyes, too.

"How about I kiss you, instead?" Killian suggested, quietly.

"Deal!" Emma agreed. She lifted her head to capture his lips and promptly forgot about her parents sharing a victory kiss, two feet away. When she pulled back they leant their foreheads together, looking intently into each other's eyes.

"I'm so happy you came tonight," Emma said, quietly. "I know I complain about their PDA, but seeing them win; seeing them so happy, means everything to me."

"That's because you're kind, Emma," David said, and startling his daughter who hadn't realised her parents had stopped kissing and were listening to her, instead. At hearing David's words, Killian looked over at him and David winked, before adding, "As I have heard others also remark." Killian realised his girlfriend's father had heard, at least some, of what he'd said to Neal and Walsh. David gave him a nod and a warm, gentle smile.

Emma beamed at her father's praise. "Well, we all deserved to win," she said, then turned back to look at Killian. "You did enjoy yourself, didn't you? I don't want you to dump me because you got stuck on my parent's trivia team."

"Hey!" Mary Margaret exclaimed, indignantly. "Stuck? Look at all those prizes. He made out like a bandit." Everyone at the table groaned at her pun.

"Bad parental humour, aside, I'm serious. You did have fun, right?" Emma persisted. "You're not going to tell your family how lame we all are and make jokes about me?" She was twisting her fingers, and biting her lip, nervously.

Killian's brows furrowed at seeing this uncertainty in his usually confident girlfriend. He held his hands up in a placating gesture. "No, no, no! I have to thank you, Love. For letting me be on the team."

"Really?" Emma asked, quietly. Killian nodded and reached over to unknot her fingers and entwine them with his.

"I've never had that before. You've made me feel more at home here, than I ever did back in Ireland." He lifted up Emma's hands and kissed her knuckles. "Thank you for letting me be a part of something." Emma leaned in and kissed him, softly.

"And for the record, only a stupendous idiot would ever, could ever, in their wildest of imaginings, think for a second, that dumping you would be a good idea. My Mam, didn't raise an idiot." Killian paused to smile broadly at Emma. "Well," he said, his smile turning cheeky. "There's Liam. He's a bit daft. Clearly, I got the brains in our family."

"Uh, huh. All the humility, as well," Emma said, and smirked at him.

"Yes, it goes with my charm and dashing good looks," Killian countered, and tilted his head and raised an eyebrow, seemingly to allow Emma to admire his profile.

Emma chuckled and shook her head. "I think you're sweet and cute, which is not quite the same."

Killian tried to look indignant at what he considered to be a descriptive downgrade, but it came off more as a distorted pout. And that fell right off has face altogether when Emma whispered that she had a sweet tooth and nibbled on his ear.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWT

'The Bandits' won the Championship that year. It was their first of several.

It was a competition as to who threw the biggest tantrum; Russell or Walter. Russell threw things further, but Walter yelled louder.

David was incandescent with joy and kissed everyone on the tea. Twice!

In his Groom's Speech, ten years later, Killian jokingly remarked that his father-in-law had softer lips than his bride.

Emma whacked him with her bouquet.


End file.
